For decades, children have been taught to read according to a “three cue system.”
Children are asked to use context clues when they encounter unfamiliar words. If there is a picture of an elephant next to the word, or if the story is about elephants, the word may be “elephant.” Once a child recognizes the first letter of a word, they may be asked to guess the rest. This process includes her three important question prompts: Does that word sound right? Does the word make sense in the sentence? ”
However, researchers have discovered that the approach be deeply flawed It is also inferior to approaches that focus on pronouncing consonants and vowels until young readers recognize the word. Now, New Hampshire lawmakers are considering requiring public schools to abandon old approaches and adopt better ones.
House Bill 437 Require all public school districts to implement “measurable, evidence-based” literacy instruction for kindergarten through fifth grade that follows the “science of reading,” which emphasizes audio instruction over context-based reading. become. The bill would also require all public school districts to test reading comprehension through standardized assessments for students in kindergarten through third grade three times a year.
The bill comes amid growing concerns about literacy. In 2018, 54 percent of New Hampshire third-graders were found to be proficient in reading, but in 2022, only 45 percent and in 2023, 46 percent. Teachers are grappling with the learning gap caused by the disruption caused by the coronavirus. -19 most affected elementary school students, some educators say.
The state Department of Education is focused on literacy and has launched a program to help teachers, parents, and caregivers learn the latest techniques for teaching reading. And for schools, the bill comes at a time when many schools are moving away from a “triple queuing” approach.
For Karen LaPlante, a longtime reading specialist in the state’s public schools, that transition is critical. Often she shows her students the flaws in traditional approaches.
“I have students who come to see me and all they know is to guess the words,” she said during a House Education Subcommittee meeting held to discuss the bill. “And that’s very sad. And it takes a lot of time to turn it around and break the bad habits that have been instilled in them.”
In LaPlante’s experience, most elementary school teachers are aware that research on reading instruction is changing. But they may not know how to revamp their curriculum to meet it.
“Schools are kind of at a standstill and they need guidance from the state to know what to use and help fund them so they can actually get these materials,” LaPlante said. .
HB 437 would require schools to adopt a reading approach that emphasizes the “Five Components of Reading” first established by the National Reading Council in 2000: phonemic awareness, phonology, reading fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. It will be mandatory to adopt it.
Under the bill, testing would be administered to all students in third grade and below three times a year, with the first test occurring within one month of the start of the school year. The second time was in the middle of the year. And the third time at the end of the year. Schools will be required to provide additional “reading interventions” to students who show “significant deficits” on these tests. Supporters of the bill argue that repeated testing throughout the year would allow teachers to track student progress and intervene early.
Schools will notify parents if their child is significantly behind in reading comprehension and develop an individualized reading plan that outlines how the school will utilize the five components of reading comprehension to support the student. It is mandatory. School districts must report the percentage of students performing below grade level in each grade according to the assessment.
Currently, New Hampshire students are given statewide assessments in grades 3 through 8, not just in 11th grade. The bill would create the first test of its kind for elementary school students.
Earlier this year, Congress passed the following bill: House Bill 377requires dyslexia screening for all students entering public schools.
Rep. Glenn Cordery, a Moultonborough Republican and lead sponsor of HB 437, said measuring and improving the success rate of reading instruction in New Hampshire is an important next step.
Cordery added that New Hampshire’s teacher preparation programs will also need to evolve to meet the new standards. “We are behind the eight ball, and our students are behind the eight ball to begin with,” he said.
Brenda Peters, a reading expert and former president of the Northern New England Alliance of the International Dyslexia Association, believes that a phonological “structured reading” method is better than a context-driven approach that connects words and images. He said he has confirmed with his own eyes that it is far more effective. And the story. In the past, some teachers preferred a “three cueing” approach to make lessons more interesting. Introduce students to new topics while reading words by tying reading instruction to the subject matter itselfsaid Peters. But the results were less than ideal, she said.
And Peters agreed that teacher training programs need to be improved.
“We want to ensure that teachers who spend more than $100,000 to become teachers can leave UNH and teach all kinds of children, including children who are struggling to read. “I think we need to do everything we can,” she said. “If I can’t do that, what’s the point of this degree?”
LaPlante said making evidence-based approaches standard practice for all teachers would make a big difference, especially for reading specialists.
“I spend a lot of time and energy and heart and soul providing good guidance to struggling readers,” she said. “Then they left my room, went back to class, and were asked to guess the word.”